Serious fun: The art of the skateboard

TEMECULA -- Instead of being used for pulling ollie's or
kickflips, more than 20 skateboards found use on the plaster white
walls of the Mercantile Gallery on Friday night for the opening of
"The Art of the Skateboard."

The art show, which will run through Feb. 4, began in typical
gallery fashion with appetizers, circles of impromptu discussions
and a gathering of eclectic people at 42051 Main St.

Curious on-lookers assumed the gallery pose of bodies bent at
the waist with their faces hovering inches from the artwork.

The medium on which art is placed is often as important as the
creativity of the design. Longboards and shortboards, carried on
them the artist expressions of Temecula youth who had at one time
or another participated in the cultural arts class of skateboard
design during the past two years.

The program, which is sponsored by the Temecula Community
Services Department, teaches students ages 10 to 18 stenciling,
painting and deck design. The only restriction is the work must be
original; no trademarked graphics or logos may be used.

"Never have we had a design that was inappropriate," said John
Flohr, the recreation leader who teaches the weeklong courses.
"It's their expression."

Besides the painted designs of the wooden-deck, the dirt
embedded in the wheels of the skateboards also gave a glimpse into
the life of the artists, who used their creations for the function
they were meant for - riding.

"We've had about 70 kids go through the program, but we were
only able to get a few boards for the show," said Flohr, who also
works as a substitute teacher in Temecula. "When they have finished
the last day of class, they usually ride out on their boards. A lot
of kids didn't want to be without their boards for a month."

Charles Hitchcock, 12, was more reserved with his creation.

"He won't ride it," his mother said. "It is his pride and joy.
He keeps it in his room for show, he has another skateboard that he
rides."

Charles, a seventh-grader at Temecula Middle School, titled his
board "Flames." The black-and-white striped longboard looks as if
the bottom portion was dipped into an acid-green checkerboard bath.
Where the pattern of squares merge into the diagonal stripes, green
paint swirled into the shape of dancing flames.

"I was really excited when my mom told me she had signed me up
for the class," Charles said. When asked if he would rather be an
artist or a skateboarder, he said, "probably an artist. I'm not the
greatest skateboarder."

The skateboard creations of Jack Kay, a news director for local
television station KZSW, are also displayed in the gallery. Kay,
25, began to assist Flohr with the design classes earlier this
year. Kay, who has no formal artistic training, said he fell into
skateboard art by accident.

"I just had an old skateboard, and the more I rode it, the more
I banged it up," Kay said. "I painted it. And then repainted it.
Then I started painting for my friends."